Dying great white shark kicked during Orewa Beach, Auckland, New Zealand beach selfie as video footage horrifies community as witnesses protested.
Causing disconcert is video showing a great white shark which was found stranded on a New Zealand beach allegedly being kicked by a group of men who then took selfies with the dying animal.
Footage captured at Orewa Beach in Auckland showed a lifesaver and beachgoers trying to drag the predator back into deeper water, only to discover it was dead.
Witnesses on the beach said a group of men had been seen kicking the shark in the jaw and laughing as it lay injured, Stuff reported.
It’s believed a gill net was used to purposefully catch the great white shark which was then deliberately pulled out of the water according to New Zealand’s Herald. The animal was effectively left to die after repeated kicking and efforts to pull it out to the beach.
Was shark caught on purpose only to be brutally treated?
Beachgoers tried to intervene and stop the inhumane treatment of the beached juvenile female only for the men to become ‘exceptionally intimidating’.
‘Police and (the Department of Conservation) arrived on the scene as other beachgoers attempted to pull the shark back into the water,’ the witness said.
‘The group of men gave false details to police and joined the larger group.’
A police spokesman confirmed they had received reports the animal had been dragged onto the beach and repeatedly kicked.
Lifeguards then tried to drag the shark back into deeper water, but noticed the animal wasn’t moving.
Shortly afterwards the shark was washed back onto the shore and confirmed dead.
‘The shark was purposefully caught in a net by a group of men who caught sight of the [shark] some time earlier,’ a female witness told the NZ Herald.
‘The men proceeded to pull the shark on to the beach – repeatedly kicked it, damaged its jaw and took photos next to the dying [fish] while laughing,’ she added.
The woman said when her relative tried to intervene, the men intimidated them and tried to prevent them from helping.
Another witness told Newshub they had ‘several heated conversations with the fishermen”, who were “just sitting around laughing and prodding it’.
Great white sharks are protected in New Zealand waters under legislation which carries a maximum penalty of a $250,000 fine and six months imprisonment for those who kill the big fish. The bill makes it illegal to hunt, kill or harm white sharks within territorial waters.
Authorities have yet to tell of any arrests being made.
